135 Gallon Setup/Refresh

[atmetoyer]

I picked up my 135 Oceanic today. It is very ugly right now but I plan to change that!
Questions:
- How do I get the hard water stains off?
- The floor is uneven in the spot it is now. Can I just shim up one side with some wood w/o any problems later on?
- Bundle of wires (see Below)
Plans:
- Use acetone to remove that ugly wood trim to reveal that beautiful black.
- Paint the stand black.
- Black background
- Natural look to the tank ie

Pictures of the tank:

Thickness

Is that bundle of wires normal?

 

[KAWAMIKIE]

Try a new sharp razor blade first. If that won't remove the spots, CLR or Lime Away followed by a thorough rinse, followed by bleach, then more rinsing may help remove the hard water spots. Rinse it very well and make sure any chemical smell is gone before filling the tank. DO NOT MIX BLEACH WITH ANY OTHER CHEMICALS.

Either secure the ballasts to your stand or screw them to a piece of wood. Organize the wires and secure them with some zip ties and clamp them so they don't get pulled apart. Make sure all connections are secure. I would heat shrink over the wire nut connections to prevent any moisture from contacting them.

 

[iloveoscars702]

that exactly looks like how my 125 started. lol if you dont mind ill post some before and after pics in here

i used Behr paint and Primer mat semi glass finish. 3 coats on the tank and two on the stand. i also sanded down the stand before painting, etc. i had hard water staines and build up so i just a small razor a carefully scrapped it.

 

[iloveoscars702]

any updates?

 

[BODYDUB]

Looking good so far though..........

 

[atmetoyer]

Probably wont have any updates until the 4th (pay day). Just cleaning the hard water stains etc. Nothing major.

 

[Sarah88]

yeah thats just a retro-fit light kit so you just have to secure everything into the hood and make sure none of it can get wet, if you absolutely have to use chemicals to get rid of the water stains then that is fine just make sure to extra thoroughly rinse and rinse and rinse some more, as for the floor being uneven, you can shim the tank thats fine just make sure the shim the stand and not the tank itself or you will wait up to a pool in your house one morning, but yeah so are you just going to do a black background with driftwood and river rocks as deco? finding the right pieces of driftwood is the hardest part lol, what substrate are you wanting to use? i absolutely LOVE pool filter sand and use it as substrate in all my tanks since i made the switch from gravel

 

[atmetoyer]

I am scraping the stains off with scissors. Pool Filter sand is exactly what I am going to use.

 

[BlackShark11k]

You can get the water stains off pretty easily with a little patience, a rag soaked in vinegar, and a razor.

 

[atmetoyer]

I got the water stains off by sanding them, I am painting the frame anyway.
I sanded almost the whole stand, I still have to sand the bottom and where the tank is sitting, tomorrow I am going to use a finer grit sand paper. I am going to paint the frame black and I am not sure if I will stain or paint the stand. I will post pictures of everything tomorrow.